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How Does your Business Handle Negative Reviews?

Businesses that thrive in today’s economy recognize that a respectable online reputation is essential. From the early days of the Internet to now, no other aspect of business is as important as having a dedicated following of loyal customers. Branding plays a major role in creating a positive impression of a business, and it helps attract customers that tend to stay with the company’s products. While a company spends considerable time and effort building its online brand and reputation, only a few well-placed negative reviews can derail this effort.

A negative review is not the end of the brand or the business, and should not ever be considered as such. Instead, companies must understand that no business is perfect and that negative reviews will happen. However, it is in how the company responds that makes all the difference. With social media playing an important part in how a company is received, it does not make sense to use Twitter, for example, to get into a war with customers, per Carly Schoonhoven, a content marketer from Iterate Marketing. Instead, it’s a good idea to have a pre-arranged plan in place to effectively handle negative reviews, she says.

Managing your online reputation must be taken seriously, and to that end, there are steps your business can adopt to minimize the effects of bad reviews. Get yourself a Reputation Defender review service. Develop a habit of searching online for reviews about your company. This proactive approach could help save your reputation by quickly responding to any negative review you might find. Take every response very seriously and take steps to mitigate possible damage to your reputation by creating goodwill toward your customers. Remember that your quick and complete response will do wonders when readers see that although someone was not happy initially with something about your business or product, you demonstrated genuine concern for them and their complaint by ensuring that the issue was completely and amicably resolved.

Bad reviews are here to stay, and they are part of doing business online. Ideally, your company will never receive a bad review, but the reality is that you will, and it should concern your business deeply. A proactive approach to developing a plan of action and subsequent steps for resolving issues with your product or reputation will help customers see that you care about them and do want their business.